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Qatar to bid for 2024 Olympics

Doha, June 24, 2012

Qatar will bid to host the 2024 summer Olympics, despite having failed to make the cut for the 2016 and 2020 Games, the Qatar Olympic Committee's general secretary said on Sunday.

'We have tried it twice, and we will continue. It's not something we will give up - it's part of our vision to make Qatar a centre for sport,' Saoud bin Abdulrahman al-Thani told reporters in the Qatari capital.

Qatar had proposed holding the 2020 Olympics in October to avoid the Gulf Arab state's searing summer heat.

The tiny country, which will host the 2014 world short-course swimming championships and 2015 men's handball world championships, but failed to get the 2017 world athletics championships, would bid to host other major events, Saoud said.

'We are in the process of bidding for some other championships, which we will announce at a later date.'

Qatar will also host the World Cup soccer tournament in 2022. – Reuters